One Year Later
by laughinghyena2000
Summary: Prequelish to the story Six Years Later. Eventually these might become a series about the 19 years... :D The return to Hogwarts as seen through the eyes of Hermione. A little HG, more RHr. FINISHED Tada!. DH spoilers. R n R please? Thanks!
1. Chapter 1

One Year Later

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but I wouldn't mind having them over for tea…

Note: I got some really nice feedback for "Six Years Later." Thanks. I know this seems like some sort of stand alone. But I think eventually it's going to all come under a series of stories about the missing 19 years told from different perspectives. Was tons o'fun to write. I hope you enjoy it!!

xxxx

King's Cross was bursting with activity. Muggles everywhere, rushing on and off trains, trying to get from place to place in the shortest time possible. Controlled chaos. Everything was just as Hermione remembered, and yet everything felt foreign. She felt as if she was beginning her journey to Hogwarts for the first time. The knots in her stomach, the slight tremble in her hands, the cold sweat running down her back.

As she stepped on to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, she could hear the excited chatter of Hogwarts students and their parents. She could easily tell which ones were incoming first years, mainly by their size, but also the looks on their faces that mirrored her own. Hogwarts, going back to Hogwarts, she thought.

Behind her, she could hear Ron grunting as he pushed an overburdened trolley, sagging under the weight of two large trunks, assorted small boxes, an overly energetic caged owl, and a broomstick. His face was red from the effort of trying to keep everything just properly balanced. Slow and steady, slow and steady, she heard him mutter under his breath.

Now, Hermione considered herself a very independent young woman. She was more than capable of handling her own belongings. But when Ron had insisted on pushing her trunk for her ("Look, this is what boyfriends do. 'Kay?") she had been momentarily gob smacked by the show of chivalry that she'd agreed.

Behind Ron came an equally red-faced, grunting Harry, with his own suffering trolley, and a step behind him was Ginny, trying her hardest to keep from laughing. "Oh c'mon Hermione," Ginny had said on the way over to the station. "Those boys are a form of entertainment in their own right. Let them be."

"What's in this thing? It's, it's…" Ron was unable to finish his sentence due to the lack of oxygen caused by heavy lifting.

"You do realize, we have this funny thing called magic right?" Hermione reminded him, to the amusement of not only Harry and Ginny, but also a handful of eavesdropping first years.

"Right right," Ron said, as he took out his wand. He continued, "Still what's in it? The Sydney Opera House?" At which point, Harry broke out laughing, accidentally dropping Ginny's levitating trunk on his foot.

xxxxxx

After two months of rest and recuperation at the Weasleys', Hermione finally felt emotionally prepared to face her parents in Australia. She was terrified of what she would find. Worried that after almost a year, they might actually, truly have forgotten about her existence. How in the world do you tell complete strangers that they were in fact your parents?

She did not want to go alone, but was too afraid to ask anyone else to accompany her. Too guilty. As much as she wanted Ron by her side, she knew that he needed time to heal with his family. He had barely spent any time with them over the last year, and to ask him to travel half way around the world, even if it were for a few days, just seemed too… too much to ask. And well, Harry would want to be with Ginny after months of separation.

So when she had announced her plans at dinnertime that night, everyone's enthusiasm came as a surprise.

"I'm coming with you," Ron stated.

"Us too," Harry and Ginny replied simultaneously.

"Geez, you lot have been spending too much time together," Ron laughed.

Hermione almost jumped for joy at the support. And to her, and everyone else's, surprise, Mr. Weasley spoke up.

"You know, maybe we should come too. I mean we could do with a bit of…" he paused, looking embarrassed. "Distraction."

Hermione half suspected he had intended to say 'fun,' but had stopped himself. Sometimes, she felt that way too. That as she was starting to laugh, to let loose a little, the guilt would set in. They had only buried those closest to them a mere two months ago. Having fun just seemed illegal. And as she observed the distracted looks on everyone's faces, she knew they felt the same way too.

"We, we could go," Mrs. Weasley whispered. "I mean no one else will be here, Bill's back at Shell Cottage and Charlie's in Romania. Percy's in London… and George…" She stopped. And George refuses to leave the shop no matter what anyone else says.

"That settles it then," Ron exclaimed, a little too animatedly, a little too loudly, breaking the heavy silence. "We'll pack tonight, head down to Simply Magical Tours tomorrow and get ourselves a connection to Australia."

When they got to Sydney, Australia, Hermione was in for a greater surprise. What she imagined as the hardest part of the trip had turned out to be much easier than expected. In fact, the biggest problem they had encountered was trying to stop Mr. Weasley from taking a part of the Sydney Opera House as a souvenir. ("Just a slab, Molly. No one will miss it.") And coming in at a close second was when they had caught Mr. Weasley trying to hide a kangaroo in his trunk. ("But such interesting creatures!" "And what would you do with it Arthur? KEEP IT AS A PET IN YOUR SHED?")

Relocating and giving her parents their memories back, Hermione marveled, was so easy. Upon arrival at the Granger's house, they were not only greeted with open, and very understanding arms, but also a few interesting stories.

Apparently, the Grangers had played a part in the war against Voldemort, despite Hermione's attempts to keep them out. The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione learned that the Grangers had befriended a few Muggleborns who were trying to get as far away from Voldemort as possible. That when told about the wizarding world and Voldemort and Harry Potter, the Grangers had simply remarked at how familiar it all seemed. Later, their house became a safe haven for many other escaping Muggleborns.

"Déjà vu," Mr. Granger said. "I was surprised at how I wasn't surprised. If you know what I mean."

And when Hermione introduced herself to her parents, Mrs. Granger had simply hugged her and said, "I don't know you. But I feel complete now that you are here."

Later when Hermione broached the subject of bringing them back to England, Mr. Granger further shocked them all by saying, "Well, we've actually been thinking about that. Dunno why, but we've been feeling the urge to move to England lately, so we bought a house."

That night, after a long day of catching up, Ron and Hermione decided to take a stroll down Sydney Harbor. They had walked quietly, shoulder to shoulder, holding hands. Suddenly, Ron broke the silence.

"Today was ridiculous wasn't it?"

"I know. It's kind of… amazing," Hermione replied, still slightly in shock.

"You know what? Dumbledore would probably have some crackpot theory about love. 'In that what he keeps telling Harry? Power of love and all that," Ron continued. Hermione simply smiled and nodded her approval.

"You know what else I reckon?" This time Ron had stopped walking. He had turned to face Hermione, his eyes looking straight down into hers. At that moment, she felt as if he completely understood her. At that moment she felt completely protected. Shrouded in the warmth of his arms. Home, she thought, I'm feeling home.

"I reckon I love you," Ron finished.

xxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Hermione completed her prefect duties, the Hogwarts Express was well on its way. She was exhausted, having walked up and down the train multiple times, helping the first years settle in. For some odd reason, the train seemed much longer than she remembered.

"Were there more…small people this year?" Ron asked as they entered Harry and Ginny's compartment. Harry and Ginny were engrossed in a game of exploding snap with Neville and Luna. Judging by the look of things, Neville hadn't had a good run.

"I dunno. But there sure seemed to be a lot of first years," Hermione replied, reaching out for one of Harry's Chocolate Frogs.

"There are these Flurries," Luna stated airily. "Daddy says they stop you from counting properly."

"If you think about it, there weren't much learning last year. Basically everyone's been held back a year, and then there's the real new people," Neville explained, trying his best to avoid the topic of Flurries.

"Right, so everyone's coming back then?" Ron asked excitedly. "I mean, not, ya know, every…one." Hermione caught the exchange of looks between Harry and Ron as Ron quickly turned his attention to the passing scenery.

"Yeah, not everyone," Harry stated quietly. There was no need for further explanation as the six fell into a contemplative silence.

xxxx

And just like that they had arrived. The journey was over. First-years clamored to get off the train, eager to take in the sights. They oohed and aahed, pointed and gasped, bumped and prodded one another. But no one minded. To them, a new experience, both exciting and daunting, lay ahead.

In their excitement, they failed to notice the older students who had hung back. Many were still in their respective compartments, looking out of the windows to an all to familiar scene. Quietly, they disembarked. Each step and movement seemed weighted, slow.

They were remembering.

xxxx

Hermione tightened her hold on Ron's hand, and he on hers. They were now standing in front of the doors of the Great Hall. Ginny had placed her hand on Harry's shoulder as his fingers lightly grazed her waist. Both their faces, Hermione noticed, had gone pale.

The last time she remembered being in the Great Hall, she had helped move the bodies of Fred, Lupin and Tonks. She could almost feel the heaviness of their bodies straining her arms. She could still hear the silence that followed the battle, the cries that came not much later. How, she thought, can I go back in?

As the heavy doors creaked open, Hermione felt a childish urge to run. Run away and back to the Burrow where the memories were vague and always far away. Here, they were real. Pinpricks of pain now became tight clenches on her chest. Run, she thought. Run.

Ron turned to look at her, his face an odd combination of puke green and pale. He was biting his lips, tears running down his cheeks. Yet, he kept a hold on her hand. He looked at her with and said, "We can do this together."

The doors were now wide open, and she could see the Great Hall clearly. The teachers ahead of them already seated. The ceiling dotted with stars and lighted by a clear full moon. And the tables. The tables were different, newer than Hermione remembered. She heard Ron gasp beside her and saw that both Harry and Ginny were now staring at the walls to their right. All the students around her were muttering, pointing left and right.

Then she saw them.

The old banquet tables that used to fill the Great Hall, now hanging on the walls. Their table legs had been removed and were now towering slabs of wood that stretched far beyond the enchanted sky, rising, rising forever.

There were four wooden plaques, each engraved with the names of their respective houses. Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor. Below the house names hundreds and hundreds of words. Too small for Hermione to read from where she stood.

As she neared the Gryffindor plaque, in front of which Harry and Ginny were now quietly pointing at, she saw the words were in fact names. Hundreds of names. Names of those who had died over the years of fighting with Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

She found Fred's name, and Lupins, both at the top of the list. _Those Who Fought and Died at Hogwarts._ There were some names she had heard of, and many more she hadn't. She wanted to go nearer still, she wanted to touch the plaque and feel the grooves and dents on the table that she had always thought gave it character. Instead, Ron pulled her further along the wall, where he pointed out a smaller plaque, nested between that of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. One whose size was almost dwarfed by the sheer magnitude of the banquet tables.

_Those who answered the call for help._

Dobby. The tears were now burning her eyes. Dobby's name amongst the bravest of the brave. There were names of centaurs and house elves and even goblins. We are all together, Hermione thought, and Dobby is remembered.

Before she could say anything to Ron, Peeves' voiced suddenly boomed though the Great Hall. He was singing the Hogwarts song, his tune mirroring that of the tune Fred and George and used so many years ago.

_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something, please,_

_Whether we be old and bald_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot_

She was undoubtedly back at Hogwarts and she was here to stay.

The End

Note: Ah cheese. So much fwuff. I hope you enjoyed this. If not, I'm sure my bruised ego can deal with it. :-D Btw, I can never figure out how to write for Luna. What in the world does she say?


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